Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Our year and a half (roughly) old boa showed us some unusual behavior today. When cleaning his tank, my husband left his hide box out for awhile, to encourage him to be active. Usually this is not a problem.

On a whole, the snake has a wonderful attitude, has never (so far) tried to bite, or shown aggressive behavior.

But today, when my husband turned the bedroom light on, the snake became defensive, and extremely aggressive. Striking the tank at the slightest movement. Once the light was turned back off, and him given a few minutes to cool down, his attitude returned to normal. When the light was turned back on, right back to being extremely aggressive. Again, when turned off, the snake calmed back down.

This has never happened before. Never has he acted this way. Anyone have any ideas why the bedroom light would set him off? I understand he may have felt vulnerable, without his hide box, but he's been without it before and never acted like this.

I have one female that is always aggressive without her hide box. I can open her cage and take her out from her hide box and she is fine. As soon as I return her to her cage she goes right for her hide box, but if I take her hide box out of the cage and leave her without a place to retreat to, she will become defensive.

I'd be curious to know if there were any other changes (temps, humidity, etc.). Sometimes when I move a new animal from my quarantine room (with cooler temps and less humidity) into my main room (with warmer temps and higher humidity) there is a slight bit of stress on the animal. Some of them have become agressive for a day or so, but then seem to calm down,

I'd also question when the last time he ate was. On feeding days my boas are always striking at the glass as I'm feeding animals in the cages either above or below them.

I'd also be interested in knowing how often you handle that particular animal. I have a few snakes that only get handled on feeding days and during cleanings, and they have worse attitudes than the ones I handle regularly.

I hope some of this helps.
Anthony-

Absolutely nothing changed, other than the removal of the hide box. Temps the same, humidity the same. Even during the cleaning, he was fine.

He just ate on Friday. He eats very well, and should not be hungry.

My husband just informed me that while he has left the hide box out before, never for as long as he did yesterday. So yes, the hide box was the trigger. What I still don't understand is why the light upset him so much.

Once his hide box was returned, no more foul tempered snake, back to his regular attitude.

It's an ok hide box, but not enough I'd throw a fit over, lol.

sounds like hidebox withdrawal syndrome. I'm guessing he wants that hidebox back. it must be a nice hidebox.

I also didn't answer about his handling. He's handled a few times a week most weeks, maybe only once on others. We don't handle him as we should, but even when he's only handled once a week, he's still not in any way aggressive. So this is new behavior.

To test the theory about him still being hungry, we tried to feed him again tonight. He had no interest.

When he was removed from his tank, he was fine. Attitude nice, not jumpy, bitey, or aggressive. But as soon as he was back in his tank (his home included) he became aggressive again and the light was on again. My husband realized he had the house too close to the glass, and the snake couldn't get in. While my husband tried to move it without getting bit, the snake struck the glass with such speed and force he actually injured himself. I saw some blood on the glass (great, now a new worry).

Still don't know why the light ticks him off so much. When he's out of his tank and the light is on, he's fine. But another theory is, yes, he is beginning to outgrown his tank, and my husband is in the process of ordering materials to build his 'forever home.' Maybe he's becoming defensive over his tank, or maybe just his hide box.

Why do I get the feeling that one day, people are going to ask me, why do you have such a small house in with such a large snake? Because that's his girl friend I guess.